Public Libraries (Scotland) Act 1955

1955 c.27

An Act to remove the limitations imposed by section one hundred and ninety-one of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947, and by section fourteen of the Public Libraries Consolidation (Scotland) Act 1887, on the annual expenditure and the power to borrow money of county and town councils for and in connection with public libraries; to facilitate co-operation among statutory and non-statutory library authorities; to authorise the revocation of a decision to adopt the Public Libraries Consolidation (Scotland) Act 1887; and to extend the lending powers of statutory library authorities.

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2 Provisions for facilitating co-operation among statutory and non-statutory library authorities.

1

A statutory library authority shall have power to enter into arrangements with any other statutory library authority or with any non-statutory library authority with a view to the improvement of their respective library services, and, without prejudice to the foregoing generality, any such arrangements may provide for the lending by one authority to the other of any library material.

2

A statutory library authority may, with the consent of the Secretary of State given either generally or specially, contribute towards the expenses of any non-statutory library authority.

3

Where—

a

a non-statutory library authority includes among its objects the provision of library services to all statutory library authorities in Scotland, and

b

the Associations representing the local authorities concerned agree that a specified sum should be jointly contributed annually for a specified number of years to the said non-statutory library authority by the statutory library authorities belonging to their Associations, and that the said sum should be apportioned among the said authorities on a specified basis,

then, if each of the said Associations resolves that each of the statutory library authorities belonging to that Association shall for the said number of years contribute the amount due by them in accordance with the agreement and if the Secretary of State approves of the said resolution, each of the said statutory library authorities shall contribute accordingly.

4

The provisions of this section shall have effect notwithstanding anything in any other enactment (including any enactment contained in a local Act).

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4 Extension of lending power of public libraries.

F31

The power conferred by the seventh paragraph of section twenty-one of the principal Act of lending out books from a library shall extend to the lending out of any other library material which the managers of the library may think proper to lend out.

F42

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5 Interpretation, citation and extent.

1

In this Act the following expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them:—

  • “library material” means any library material the purchase of which is authorised by the third paragraph of section twenty-one of the principal Act;

  • “non-statutory library authority” means a body, not trading for profit, which provides library services otherwise than in the exercise of statutory powers;

  • “the principal Act” means the M1Public Libraries Consolidation (Scotland) Act 1887;

  • F5“statutory library authority” means a library authority as defined in section 2 of the M2Public Libraries Consolidation (Scotland) Act 1887 or any body authorised by any other enactment (including any enactment contained in a local Act) to provide library services.

2

This Act may be cited as the Public Libraries (Scotland) Act 1955, and the Public Libraries (Scotland) Acts 1887 to 1920, and this Act may be cited together as the Public Libraries (Scotland) Acts 1887 to 1955.

3

This Act shall extend to Scotland only.